Thanks for visiting. On a daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has taken issue "with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist’s view that the U.S. embargo has outlived its usefulness, saying keeping it in place is “standing up” for the Cuban people."

Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera was even more forceful in his rejection of Crist’s assertion last Friday on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher that the time has come to lift the embargo. . . .

The politicians’ remarks come at a time when attitudes toward Cuba are evolving as more liberal travel policies by both the United States and Cuba increasing put Cubans on the island and those in Florida in more frequent contact with each other. . . .

Asked if he thought the Cuban-American population in Florida still supports the embargo, Scott [before release of the poll] responded, “Absolutely.”

A new poll to be released by the Atlantic Council Tuesday may provide some clarity on the issue. The national poll examines attitudes toward U.S.-Cuba relations, including the embargo.

"High in the polls with a dream candidate’s résumé, Hillary Clinton’s advantages in the 2016 presidential race are the stuff of near-constant media chatter these days."

Except for one topic: Univision.

The Spanish-language network, which broadcasts from Doral, has remarkably close ties with Clinton — from the way the media giant covers immigration to the financial backing of its top leader to a new initiative between the network and the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. Barely a peep from the press, though. . . .

So far, the RNC isn’t taking on Univision the way it pressured CNN and NBC last year to scrap plans for a Clinton documentary, which Republicans said amounted to election-year infomercials. In that case, the RNC threatened to boycott the networks from hosting a 2016 GOP White House candidate debate.

The dispute was well-covered in the navel-gazing ranks of the New York-D.C. media-industrial complex.

How about the close Univision-Clinton ties? Crickets — although The Washington Post, to its credit, covered the Univision event and noted some political advantages Clinton could gain. On a related note, The New York Times reported in August how “efforts to insulate the foundation from potential conflicts have highlighted just how difficult it can be to disentangle the Clintons’ charity work from Mr. Clinton’s moneymaking ventures and Mrs. Clinton’s political future.”

"'She would be a wonderful president,' Haim Saban, a major Clinton donor and backer, told the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth. 'If it happens, we will of course pitch in with full might. Seeing her in the White House is a big dream of mine.'".

But just four days before, his network coincidentally announced its partnership with the Clinton foundation and a host of other major nonprofits, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Under Saban, Univision has become one of the most-watched networks on TV. Depending on the day or month, Univision has sometimes beaten out English-language ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox for young viewers in prime-time.

With Hispanics comprising the fastest-growing population and electoral demographic, the network is poised for outsized growth and political influence. . . .

"With a month to go, the candidates running in the special election for an open congressional seat in Pinellas County tried to establish their crime-fighting credentials on Tuesday, but also showed more of their teeth." "Who Is CD 13's Bigger Crime Dog, Sink or Jolly?".

Meanwhile, "Pasco County employees got pay raises this year for the first time in five years — but Sheriff Chris Nocco said that’s not enough of a bump to keep his deputies from fleeing to other agencies." "Sheriff’s office may face deputy exodus".

Rick Scott was nowhere near this announcement

"A mortgage company that has received $2 million in state incentives to create jobs has announced that it will lay off 745 workers in April. . . . Gov. Rick Scott had touted the company last year as a job-creating machine." "Touted Fla. mortgage company laying off 745".

Fabiola Santiago worries that Miami "is facing nothing short of a major affront on its quality of life as the state’s resistance to casino gambling expansion folds, player by player."

In a stunning move this week, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, a Republican who previously opposed gambling expansion, told the Herald/Times Bureau that he’s now open to passing legislation that would allow Las Vegas-style casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward. . . .

The speaker, who’s from Pasco County and has enormous power in setting the agenda for the Legislature, seems not to care one iota about what happens in South Florida.

In exchange for pushing through the casino gambling expansion as a priority this session, Weatherford wants a constitutional amendment that requires voters to approve any future gaming.

His condition is only a bone he’s throwing fellow conservatives who oppose gambling. Voters have in the past turned down casino gambling expansion, but look where we’re now. That’s how little the speaker respects them. What truly matters is that, in this hard-fought election year, Weatherford’s support will fill Republican coffers with campaign contribution from gambling interests.

Not surprisingly, "Helping young patients in remote parts of Florida or other states, however, is not so easy."

For one, insurance companies in Florida aren’t required to reimburse doctors for telemedicine services, meaning physicians aren’t guaranteed payment for Web-based consultations or diagnostic test interpretations. What’s more, many doctors don’t have the licenses to practice in other states or the credentials to practice at other hospitals.

“Because of the regulatory limitations, it is easier for me to care for a child in Colombia than it is for me to care for a child at Broward General,” said Dr. Jacques Orces, the chief medical information officer at Miami Children’s.